[Watch] Fisherman Hooks Extremely Rare Leucistic Checkered Keelback Snake In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Khokan Sethy of Biridi of Jagatsinghpur district in Odisha cast a hook overnight, hoping for a big catch, but found an extremely rare leucistic Checkered Keel Back snake in his fishing rod in the morning.

According to sources, he pulled the string carefully out of the water and removed the fish hook from the snake’s mouth. However, Khokan was not able to identify the snake due to its yellow colour. He then sent a few photos to General Secretary of Snake Helpline Subhendu Mallik. Following which, a 3-member team from Snake Helpline visited the place and examined the snake.

The yellowish snake was identified as a Checkered Keelback snake with leucism. The eye colour of the snake was normal. Had it been an albino, the eyes would have been pink. A normal Checkered Keelback snake has a glossy brown, olive brown, yellow, brown, grey or black body with a checkered body pattern, Snake Helpline said in a release.

However, both side of the head holds the key for identification with two bold black streaks — one below, and the other from the eye to the angle of mouth. The two black streaks are of a faded to light black or dark grey colour in the leucistic Checkered Keelback. The body is overall rough and the scales on the back feel very rough. That’s the reason for the English name keelback.

Normally found in and around freshwater bodies and paddy fields, this snake is active both during the day and at night. When excited a checkered keelback flattens its head, extends neck ribs, and rears up. Sometimes people mistake it for a cobra in this position, it further said.

The snake was released in a suitable nearby natural habitat surrounded by water and rice fields after taking necessary scientific measurements. “Thanks to the awareness spread through media, people of the locality did not kill the extremely rare leucistic specimen. A white-bodied snake with pink eye would have been an albino. This yellowish snake with a normal eye is due to leucism, which is a condition of partial loss of melanin pigment,” Mallik said.